Locking closure for paper bags and other containers



Dec. 14, 1943. wymc o s 2,336,630

LOCKING CLOSURE FOR PAPER'BAGS AND OTHER CONTAINERS Filed March 13, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Hqma W Mcmus, J4

MQ M

ATTORNEYJS.

Dec. 14, 1943. w, mc o s, JR 2,336,630

LOCKING CLOSURE- FOR 'PAPER BAGS AND OTHER CONTAINERS Filed March 13, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 130.61 I m mm. "i

' 1| 14 i I [M ll L50 i i [WP )f I 32 I I. A M

i mi 36 MM 5? i 35: 155 34 i 11 .8. l

ii[Ill I III i INVENTOR.

Emma If MCHOLS,

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 14, 1943 UNITED STA? s PAT OFFICE LOCKING CL'QSURE FOE PAPER BAGS AND OTHER CONTAINERS Application March 13, 1940, Serial No. 323,765

5 Claims. ('01. 229-68) This invention relates to containers and thelike with handy grip and closure combinationsv and more particularly to containers made from paper, card board or similar material; provided with means for inserting the fingers near the mouth of said container so that the container can easily be carried; and also provided with a closing and/or locking structure so that the mouth of the container does not readily come open after the container has been filled with merchandise.

It is an object of my invention to provide a container as above described which will be extremely simple to manufacture and which may be manufactured at less expense than closures heretofore known. It is another object of my invention to provide an arrangement of the class described which will be extremely simple to operate. Another object of my invention is to provide such an arrangement'in which the container may be closed and locked by one continuous operation. A further object of my invention consists in providing an arrangement as above outlined in which the bag will be securely held in closed position so that it will not readily come open and whereby a finger opening is provided for carrying purposes.

These and other objects of my invention which will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading this specification, or which will be pointed out in more detail hereinafter, I accomplish by that certain construction and arrangement of parts of which I shall now describean exemplary embodiment.

Reference is now made to the drawin'gs'forming a part hereof. and in which:

Figure l is an elevational view of a bag em-- bodying a closure and lockingarrangement according to my invention.

Figure 2 is a partial perspective view of a bag in its opened condition.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure showing the first step in closing the bag.

Figure 4 is a View similar to Figure 2 show ng the second step in the closing of the bag.

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figures 2, 3' and 4 showing a somewhat modified bag closed and locked.

Figure 6 is a partial plan view of a bag embodying the invention in a different form in which the hand-hole flap is turned downwardly.

Figure '7 is a partial plan view of still another form in which hand-hole flaps are turned to the side.

Figure 8 is a modification of the form of Figure '7.

Figure 9 shows still another modification in which hand-hole flaps are turned downwardly.

Figure 10 shows a modification of the bag of Figures 1 to 5.

While I shall describe my invention in connection with bags, it will be clear'that it is applicable to any type of container with juxtaposed walls, for example, to carriers for bottles, which carriers are in the form of boxes, or bags, or open, frame-like structures with top walls which approach each other and are provided with a hand-hole and grip.

Briefly, in the practice of my invention, I provide hand-hole means by a generally U-shaped out which leaves one or more hand-hole flaps. The flap or flaps are folded back against the bag, and means are provided to receive the end portions of the flap or flaps so as to form a lock. In the preferred form of the invention a portion of the bag is folded over against the folded handhole flaps, and the construction is such, as will hereinafter be explained, as to tend to hold the folded portion in folded position.

In the art there is a distinction between bags and envelopes; but this distinction is not of consequence as respects my invention, one of its advantages being that it is applicable to containers of both constructions; and hereinafter, and in the appended claims, I use the term container to cover both bags and envelopes, as well as any other construction presenting the, same problems, e. g. the containers which are used for carrying bottles. My invention, as will. be clear, is applicable to any container which. presents when closed the aspect of parallel walls at the closure, which walls are'to be held together and provided with a hand-hole, and in the claims I use container in the non-restricting sense.

In the preferred form of my invention, I form the side walls of the bag near the upper edge two arcuate or channel shaped or U-shaped cuts, the upper one being relatively shallow and thelower one being relatively deep. In closing the bag the tongues formed by the larger channel shaped out are folded through the bag to one side or the other, thereby leaving a finger opening; and thereafter the upper edge of the bag is folded down and the tongues first mentioned are slipped through the upper aperture or channel shaped slot, thereby locking the bag in closed position.

Referring now particularly to Figure l, a paper bag is generally indicated at III. The bag may be made of any type of paper or similar material and may be of any size, shape and construction. Adjacent the upper edges of the bag I preferably provide one or more reinforcements I I of a heavier material, which may be adhesively fastened to the inside walls of the bag. It should be understood that these reinforcing portions are not to be considered as limitations upon my invention since if the bag itself is made of fairly heavy material the members II may well be omitted.

I then provide the cuts indicated respectively at I2 and I 3. It should be understood that the U-shaped cut indicated at I3 forms the finger opening, and the shape of it may be varied as a matter of convenience. I have found the shape indicated in the drawings to be very satisfactory. In order, however, for the lock to function satisfactorily, the depth of the tongue I4 formed by the cut I3 should be somewhat greater than the distance between the line of articulation indicated at I5 (which may, if desired, be a scored line), and the cut I2. The cut I2, as will be noted, has the relatively short limbs I6 for a purpose which will be described hereinafter. In the particular form illustrated, this out also is thus channel shaped or U-shaped; but it may be made in the form of a straight cut with short cross-cuts at each end, giving to the cut an elongated H-shape, as will be clear from Figure 5. Again, instead of a cut, I may employ a narrow slot-shaped aperture, by die-ing out a portion of the material. The term cut herein is used as inclusive of slit and aperture. The distance between the cut I2 and the top edge of the bag will be determined by the strength of the material whether it is reinforced or not, and need only be such that the material will not tear between the cuts I6 and the edge of the bag. If a portion of the top bag walls is to be folded over, which portion is substantially wider than the distance between the out I2 and the fold line I5, it is within the spirit of my invention to cut away such portion over the area of the handhole. Also, if desired, score lines may be provided as prolongations of the cut I2 as indicated at I8 in Figure 4.

In use the bag is first filled with merchandise and then the upper edges are closed together as shown in Figure 3. The tongue members I4 are then folded through to one side or the other of the bag, as shown in Figure 4, and concurrently the upper edge of the bag indicated in Figure 4 generally at I I, is folded downwardly as indicated by the arrow about a line of articulation indicated at I 3, so that the tongues I4 pass through the cut I2 while the portion II is being folded downwardly, so that the parts ultimately obtain the position shown in Figure 5. It will be noted in Figure 5 that the bag is closed by means of the fold I7 and locked by the passage of the tongues I4 through the cut I2. Danger of tearing is eliminated by the cuts I6 which, as will be noticed, from Figure 5, permit the central portion of the fold H to extend directly upward parallel to the tongues I4.

The small cross cuts I6 at the ends of the ma n cut I2 have additional important functions. In the first place, they make the tucking of the flaps I4 through the slit I 2 an action which occurs automatically upon the folding over of the portion I! on the line of articulation I 8. To this end, the cuts iii are preferably carried upwardly substantially the height to which the folded flaps I4 project above the line of cut I2. In the second place, when the portion I! has been folded over, resulting in the tucking of the flaps I4 through the line of cut I2, one or more edge portions of the bag body parallel the flaps I4 as at I9 and 20. These edge portions efiectively extend somewhat above the line of articulation I8, due to the takeup of the material in being folded over, and they thus tend to prevent the unfolding of the portion II. In fact, the construction has a sort of snap-action which holds the parts in the desired relationship.

A modification of the structure hereinabove described is shown in Figure 10. This modification has the advantage of closing and looking more easily, and of presenting a smoother surface at the top of the grip portion. It dispenses with the cross cuts I6 of Figures 1 to 5, and instead of employing a straight connecting cut I2, employs a slightly curved cut 44, with the convex portion extending downwardly from the line of fold 45. The line of cut 46 defining the handhole is well rounded at the corners and is gently arcuate throughout its mid-portion. The handhole flap Ma is again of sufficient depth to permit the end of the hand-hole flap to extend through the cut 44. The manner of closing and locking this bag will be clear from the foregoing description.

In the embodiment of Figures 1 to 5, it will be evident to the skilled worker that the bag portion which is folded over as at I1, instead of constituting parts of the side walls of the bag, may be a flap or lip, the line of cut I2 in this instance being the line of articulation of the flap or lip and the bag proper.

It should be understood that the locking of a bag according to my invention may be accomplished without the provision of a finger opening by providing simply an articulated, adhesively secured, separate flap I4 on one of the reinforcing members II, and that the bag adjacent said flap would not need to be perforated. If desired, the lock may be accomplished by simply thrusting the flaps I4 through one of the slits I2; and it will also be clear that if desired the flap I I on one face of the bag could be eliminated and the cut I2 011 the other face of the bag could be eliminated, so that the one flap I4 could simply pass through the finger opening in the other side of the bag and then be locked by passing through one or two cuts I2.

In Figure 6, I have shown a bag having a body 2I and a flap or lip 22 extending therebeyond. The bag may have the reinforcing means 23. The hand-hole cut 24 is in this instance formed in the flap or lip 22 instead of in the body of the bag; and the body of the bag is provided with the slit 25. The single flap 25 is thus folded downwardly and tucked through the slit 25 which may be in one or both walls of the bag. The cross-cuts 21 facilitate this operation.

In Figure '7 the bag 28 may have the reinforcing means 29. The cut 30 for the hand-hole flaps 3| is made in such a way that these flaps are foldable to the side as shown; and the flaps are tucked through the slit 32 which again may be in one or both walls of the bag.

The showing of Figure 8 differs from that of Figure 7 in this: that the hand-hole cut 33 is made initially of H-shape, providing two sets of flaps 34 and 35 which are folded respectively toward the sides of the bag and are tucked respectively through slits 36 and 31.

In Figure 9 the bag 38 (which may have the reinforcing means 39) has its hand-hole cut 40 so formed that the hand-hole flaps ii are foldable downwardly. When so folded, they are tucked through a slit 42 in one or both walls of the bag. The cross-cuts 43 at the ends of the slit 42 facilitate this operation.

These and many other modifications which are within the scope of my invention will occur to one skilled in the art, and it is therefore to be understood that I do not intend to limit myself otherwise than as pointed out in the claims which follow.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a shopping bag or like container having upstanding walls adapted to be brought into parallelism, a fiap formed by a substantially three-sided cut in one of the walls and articulated to the said wall along a line defining the fourth side of the flap, an opening in the other wall opposite said flap and through which said flap may be folded to form a hand hole opening, a out line extending through one at least of said walls, extending parallel to said line of articulation of the flap and having a length not less than the dimension of said flap in the direction of said out, said out line being spaced from the line of articulation of said flap a distance less than the width of said flap, cut lines at the ends of said first mentioned cut lines extending away from said flaps a distance which, added to the distance between said first mentioned out line and said line of articulation, will substantially equal the width of said flap, so that when said flap is passed through said opening and folded against the opposite wall of said container, a folding of the container wall substantially along said first mentioned out line will result in the passage of the end portion of said fiap through said first mentioned out line.

2. The structure claimed in claim 1 wherein said line of articulation parallels the ends of said walls, wherein said walls are coterminous, and wherein said first mentioned line of cut is formed through both walls.

3. The structure claimed in claim 1 wherein said line of articulation parallels the ends of said walls, wherein said walls are coterminous, wherein said first mentioned line of cut is formed through both walls, wherein corresponding flaps are formed in both walls, the position of the line of articulation being such as to cause said flaps to fold upwardly toward the mouth of thebag,

and wherein the mouth of the bag is folded over as aforesaid through substantially so that a portion of the walls adjacent the mouth of the bag as defined by said line of cut and said transverse cuts at the end thereof lies parallel to the folded flaps to prevent the unfolding of the folded bag mouth portion.

4. The structure claimed in claim 1 wherein said line of articulation parallels the ends of said walls, wherein said walls are coterminous, wherein said first mentioned line of cut is formed through both Walls, wherein corresponding flaps are formed in both walls, the position of the line of articulation being such as to cause said flaps to fold upwardly toward the mouth of the bag, and wherein the mouth of the bag is folded over as aforesaid through substantially 180 so that a portion of the walls adjacent the mouth of the bag as defined by said line of cut and said transverse cuts at the end thereof lies parallel to the folded flaps to prevent the unfolding of the folded bag mouth portion, and in which the structure is a shopping bag made of paper with the walls thereof reinforced with attached reinforcements covering the areas of said flaps and the adjacent bag mouth portions.

5. The structure claimed in claim 1 wherein said line of articulation parallels the ends of said walls, wherein said walls are coterminous, wherein said first mentioned line of out is formed through both walls, wherein corresponding flaps are formed in both walls, the position of the line of articulation being such as to cause said fiaps to fold upwardly toward the mouth of the bag, wherein the mouth of the bag is folded over as aforesaid through substantially 180 so that a portion of the walls adjacent the mouth of the bag as defined by said line of cut and said transverse cuts at the end thereof lies parallel to the folded flaps to prevent the unfolding of the folded bag mouth portion, in which the structure is a shopping bag made of paper with the walls thereof reinforced with attached reinforcements covering the areas of said flaps and the adjacent bag mouth portions, and in which said transverse lines of cut at the ends of said first mentioned out line extend both above and below it.

HAROLD W. NICHOLS, J R. 

